A blog that went from discussing about the writing life to reviews of movies

I just wanted to post a small paragraph about the holidays. I know last week I promised some writing/editing tips that I find useful, but as of now I have been so busy working and getting ready for Christmas that I haven't had time to put a good list together. With that said, I am going to take this week off from blogging and come back next week with an awesome top five list of writing/editing tips I have found useful from other writers.

Until then, I Hope You Have Wonderful Holidays and please during this time of year if you are going to drink DO NOT DRIVE!

For those of you who don't know, the 2010 Olympics are coming to Vancouver Canada. Being a proud Canadian as it is, has made the anticipation of the event even more enjoyable. At this moment one of the longest torch relays in history is going on right now across Canada. Today it stopped in a nearby city from where I live and I just had to go and be there.

When the cauldron in that photo lit up, tears formed in my eyes. I was never more proud to be Canadian than at that moment. It was a moment I hope I will never forget and I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to see it.

Now you are probably wondering what does this have to do with writing as this blog is about writing. The Olympics represent unity amongst everyone in the world. It represents working together, having fun, motivating each other and holding each others hand through all the tough times and hard work. It signifies pride of ones country and I personally find it's much like the writing world.

I have been a part of the writing world for only a few years now yet I have found that, much like the Olympics, the world of writers are united. We try to work together by making our prose better. We hold each other's hands up all the little steps to someday be published and yes writing is hard work, but I find the world of writers are there ready to cheer you on across that finish line.

If I have learned anything today, I have learned that this world, this country, this town that I live in, has so much greatness to it. I have learned to be grateful to be a part of it all and am grateful to be a writer with the many other writers who have encouraged me to be better.

Okay onto something else. I have begun to edit last year's NaNo novel called "Run!". I have about five chapters slightly edited so far. This has been going pretty good so far for being my first time editing. Next week I will post tips I have found along my way for editing a manuscript.

Besides that, I still have to finish both of this year's Nano novels and yet to begin working on Kayla's script (I need a title for that script soon lol)

So I have some questions for you all:

-What has been the best and the worst part about editing your manuscript?-What or Who encourages you to be a better writer?-And just for random fun, what is your favourite colour?

The Christmas spirit is in full bloom in my house hold, especially after yesterday. I volunteer at the local Playhouse theatre which is putting on a fantastic Christmas play called The Christmas Express. By the end of the play, most of the attendees walk out of the theatre singing Christmas songs and searching for candy canes to munch on. It is such a great atmosphere helping out there.

Afterwards, my mother and I went to Walmart and found the purr-fect gift for our cat, Smokey. We got him a castle box that you can colour. We brought it home and he instantly rubbed himself all over it, purring delightfully as he went in and out of the small entrance. Today, I sewed him a little pillow for the inside as the floor is quite hard. I swear that cat is obsessed with blankets and pillows. He sat on that little pillow for hours, refusing to leave it behind.

So that was my non writing news for the week. Onto some writing chit chat. I have begun to write and think out an outline for Kayla's script. So far the whole script is going to be a split piece, where one scene will be a hilarious play by play from two angel like people watching a "movie". The other scenes are heavily dramatic ones down on Earth with a triangle of love sort of Drama. It is definitely going to be a lot of fun to write and I am hoping to begin the writing process asap.

Other writing news: I am trying to finish both of my Nanowrimo novels by doing NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month www.nanofimo.org) So far I have not accomplished much writing as the busy life of mine is getting in the way. I VOW TO FINISH BOTH OF THE NOVELS though. That is my promise to you!

I mentioned pictures of my tattoo I promised myself in the last post. Now I haven't went to get it done yet, but I wanted to show you the design I had in mind. The French translation says: "Writing Joy of my Life". I love the design and I cannot wait to get it done, hopefully on my forearm.

When January begins I will be doing another event called Writing Year (WriYe http://wriye.co.nr/) where I will be trying to reach a rather large writing goal during the year of 2010. I am quite excited about this and I am definitely and hoping to get a lot done. Maybe 2010 will be my year of accomplishment.

Okay this post is getting long as it is, so I have some questions to ask you all.

-What do you think of my design for my next tattoo?-Are there any writing events during the year that you really love to do?-Christmas is coming in 18 days! Are you ready? Are you excited? SANTA IS COMING SOON!

It is the end of November. Yes. It is already the end of November. I am still shocked by that.

I finished National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) this past Tuesday and I feel like I have nothing to do anymore (even though I have a long list of things I could be doing)

I am wondering where in the world my lovely November went, let alone where the rest of 2009 went.

So as I mentioned, I finished (wrote all 50 000 words) for NaNoWriMo! I have been doing my happy dance ever since I printed out my certificate on lovely glossy paper!

Since I have wrote two novels this year, I am only half complete with them. I am hoping to take two more weeks to finish them up as I really do love both stories.

So for those who have did National Novel Writing Month this year how did you do? Did you win? If so, do you have a special something you're going to do to celebrate?

I promised myself another tattoo, which I am going to get sometimes in December. (I'll post pictures of it when I finally do get it)

For those who did not win, did you have fun anyways? Are you going to try again next year?

I am going to leave this post with another fun writers event for any writer to try in April. It is called Script Frenzy. It has been made by the creators of NaNoWriMo where you write an entire 100 page screenplay in a month. It is definitely a fun challenge to try. I urge all of you writers who are reading this to go to www.scriptfrenzy.org and find out more information about it.

For the month of December I am going to post about the progress of a new screenwriting project I am about to do with a friend, Kayla, who is in Film school. I am extremely excited about this as she is going to film my script for practice. Maybe I will put excerpts and I would love feedback from you all! Plus Christmas is coming sooner than you think. Each post I put up during December will include random Christmas quotes (and maybe some funny ones I have heard from the children I babysit), just for some good old fun.

I hope to hear from you all soon! Have a great weekend everyone! Until next time!

So it has been about 12 days since I last posted, thanks to my days being so busy that I completely forgot what my blog looked like lol.

We are now at the half way point for National Novel Writing Month!

So how is everyone doing with their novels? Any setbacks? Any "OMG Why the hell did I ever start this?" How about, "My Main Character is worst than a 2 year old child. They never do as I say"

If so, then I am in the same boat as you. I have argued with my main character in public (by the stares I received I believe I have been classified as Crazy), I have cried when something bad has happened to one of my MC's and on top of that I forgot what quality time was like with my family.

And it's only been 15 days!!

Besides all of that, I am loving both of my novels that I am writing this month. My characters are my new family and for once, I am actually excited about editing both of my novels after this shingdig.

See I am Crazy lol!

I have a bit advice for all you NaNoWriMers out there. When you feel as if you are stuck and don't know if you should continue, just remember this. You are probably less crazy than I am, and if not then just know that you CAN do it. You just have to try.

It is Day 3 of National Novel Writing Month and boy am I ever loving what I am writing this year!

This year I wanted a bigger challenge so I decided to write two novels in a month at the same time.

There are some similarities between the books but they are different in so many ways. One of the major ways is Novel #1 (I don't have titles for them yet) is set in Third person. Novel #2 is set in First Person.

Going back and forth between the two POV's is difficult for the first five minutes but has been getting easier the more I write.

I have a tip for anyone who is writing during NaNoWriMo that I learned from others on the nano website (www.nanowrimo.org):

-divide your daily word count into small chunks (maybe divide it by the number of hours you have available to write-at the beginning of each hour write as fast as you can until you reach your word count chunk and try not to go over it too much. Then stop! and don't write anymore until the next hour. Then you have the rest of the hour to do whatever else to keep your mind off of it.

I swear once you come back during the next hour, you cannot help write so much more or even come up with more ideas.

As I type this message away, there is 10 days and approximately 15 minutes until National Novel Writing Month begins....ALREADY!

So far I have, um.... nothing planned except for a bit of research from the conference.

My mind is completely blank this year and I'm hoping my little muse comes back from vacation to help me out as soon as possible.

I'm thinking writing about a teen girl who is going through all these visions from her forgotten past, yet she believes they're hallucinations. I might have somewhere in there about her finding out she has a mental disorder which is causing her confusion with the visions.

I know sounds confusing. I hope to eventually find a more stable story line soon.

So I'm wondering.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year?

If you don't know about it, it's a month where you write a 50 000 word novel in one month. You can go to www.nanowrimo.org for more information if you want.

The Muse Online Writer's Conference has ended with goodbyes, email exchanges and even a video to watch.

It was an amazing week full of learning, chaos and note taking. I have left this years conference knowing so much more than what I did before along with some amazing new friendships!

The best part of the conference besides all of the workshops, chats and the creator's (Lea Schizas) reaction to the video I made, was knowing that I don't have to research much for my NaNoWriMo novel this year thanks to some workshops that fit with my story idea...YIPPEE!

Nanowrimo is fast approaching and I couldn't be more excited. I have two weeks to plan my little heart out and I will be keeping you up to date with how the whole process is going.

With that note, I'm making it final that I will be updating this blog twice a week. Every Sunday and Wednesday, so please follow me!

I thought I should add something on here and though there's not much news when it comes to my writing, I wanted to introduce a special little male in my life. His name is Koivu (and yes he's named after Saku Koivu from the Montreal Canadiennes for all you hockey fans) and he's my little feathery motivational buddy. When I write in the kitchen by his cage, he sings to me in a calming way that helps me get things done. When I'm misbehaving and not doing my work, he will definitely scream at me or continuously annoy me by acking for long periods of time.

I've been working on editing my novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo last November. It hasn't been overly easy. I have never been any good at editing anything, so this is definitely a huge learning experience for me.

Script Frenzy is about to begin on April 1st. This has to be one of my favourite events I do during each year. Script Frenzy is from the creators of National Novel Month. The same concept of writing so much during one month is still applied. This time during Script Frenzy, however, a person writes 100 page script in one month.

Scripts have been my main priority when it comes to writing lately. I have always loved the film business and became even more interested in screenwriting ever since I first began reading scripts.

Back to my novel, I hope I will be able to finish some basic editing to it by the end of the month or late April if I find the time. My excitement for Script Frenzy is just getting into the way hehe.